Won't Let ya Down
by Elillierose
Summary: The guys need to rent a few chocobos in order to traverse the terrain better so they can properly search for lost tags. But, they didn't expect there to be so much trouble and one of them pays the ultimate price. Day 3 of FFXVWeek: Bros before Chocobos


**Beta read by: SinikkavonWolperting**

 **Day three for FFXVWeek**

 **Prompt: Bros before Chocobos**

* * *

The noise the blond released could only be described as something that was rather demeaning in a sense, but he was too awe-stricken to really be aware of his short burst of total glee. "Hey there, little buddy," he cooed, his left hand already stroking the side of the creatures head, his fingers glossing smoothly over well-groomed and soft feathers. "Hope you're ready for a bit of a run," he stepped to stand in front of the bird in order to press his forehead against its, both hands now petting either side of its face. He chuckled lightly when a delightful chirp filled his ears and the feeling of his hair being tugged played at his head. "Getting a little exci-i-ow!" he exclaimed as the tugging transitioned into yanking.

"Well, I guess that settles it, that one is yours," Noctis teased, walking up to the chocobo in the next stall over to pat it on the beak; this one was a lot better behaved it seemed. "I think it suits you," he cut his eyes over in time to see it give another harsh pull, earning another yelp from the gunner.

Prompto tried to gently shove the bird from his hair, carefully removing the clump from its clutches, "Easy now," he calmly uttered, eventually freeing himself from its grasp.

"That one there is Rodo," Wiz informed, walking up to lean against one of the posts, "He's, uh, a bit of a special one."

"How appropriate," the younger rubbed at his head, grimacing at the slight slime that now sank into his strands. He made sure to take a few steps away when it stretched its neck out to snap at his do again. "Hey!" he jumped away and put his hands up protectively. "Uh, you happen to have, ya know, any that are a bit more...tame?" he tried not to sound too offensive with his word choice, he didn't want it to seem like he didn't particularly like this one, but they were likely going to be with these chocobos for a couple days and he planned on keeping his hair.

"Sorry, kid, these are the only four available, the rest are either already rented out or too young," he walked over to stand between the two of them, "But don't you worry, he's a trusty fella, won't let ya down."

Gladio smirked from the other side, "You heard 'em, you're gonna have to learn to get along," he teased, grabbing the reins of his own rented chocobo to lead it out of its designated stable. And, on the other side of him, Ignis was doing the same, his walking with the grace that its handler did and fell into a steady step behind him. Looking over to Noctis, he too had an easy time leading his; which meant it was his turn.

"Alright, you ready to go, bud?" he asked, ducking as he flailed his hand, reaching out as far away from him as possible until his fingers brushed over the leather of the reins. "Ok, slowly now," he urged, instantly flinching with the first movement it made.

"You know they can sense fear, son, right?" Wiz asked, crossing his arms and watching on in amusement.

"O-of course, who said I was afraid?" the blond stammered out, slowly standing fully upright once again, "I'm merely giving him some space, right little fella?" he perked back up and stepped a bit too close, the snap of the beak missed his head by minor inches, "Gah!"

The prince watched on as his friend fought tooth and nail to get his bird out while still keeping every strand of his hair, shaking his head slowly all the while. "Dude, you really are hopeless aren't you?"

"Hey, wanna trade?" the other asked, jamming the lead out for the raven to take, "Come on, you think he's cute don't ya?" he offered the most innocent and pure smile he could, but it came off as way too forced, and honestly more than a bit creepy. "Please?"

Noctis pursed his lips in mock consideration, then strongly shook his head, "Nah, I'm good, me and..."

"Fulgor," the older man filled in.

"Fulgor here have already bonded, it'd be too weird riding another chocobo...you know how it is," he shrugged, taking his own ride to stand a few feet away. "Sorry, guess you'll have to take the big guys advice and just learn to co-exist with one another," he motioned with his hand for him to step close and become acquainted with his new companion.

"The only way is to get it over with," Ignis jumped on board, "Not to mention, it can't reach you once you've mounted it, so I think it's safe to say, you'll be alright."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Prompto quickly nodded, glancing erratically between the bird and the brunet, "Well, here goes nothing." He rubbed his hands together and slowly rounded to the side of it, making sure to continue to keep his distance from its head and only stepping close once he was certain he was at a safe enough angle. "See? I'm friendly, and definitely NOT food," he continued his soft spoken words the whole while until he was steady and comfortable on its back. And, a light chuckle escaped him, "Feels a lot higher than I expected."

"You'll get used to it," Wiz promised, giving the chocobo a gentle pat on the back of the neck, and Prompto was a bit jealous of the fact that it completely ignored the man.

The others climbed onto their respective rides, all of them preparing for departure, "We should return within the next day or so," Ignis gave him a curt nod, "I thank you again for providing transportation." The other gave him a wave of acknowledgement with a warm smile. "Everyone ready and situated?" he asked, turning to the others.

"Ready as I'll ever be," the prince replied, leading his mount to stand next to the adviser. "After you," he gestured to the path ahead of them with his left hand. Before following after his adviser, he gave his friend another amused grin as his ride jerked unexpectedly to the left, earning a small yelp from him, "This will be interesting," he mumbled to himself and took off after Ignis.

It didn't take long before they fell into a comfortable and steady gallop, now approximately ten minutes into their trek through the flush terrain. Their carriers were easily able to navigate through the frequent twists and turns with barely the need to slow down as they did so. And to say they were fast was the understatement of the century, and if it weren't for the reins, they were quite certain they wouldn't be perched up on their backs by this point. Even Prompto was finding the going to get easier with each passing minute, his own bird quickly falling into a consistent rhythm along with the other three.

Since they already had a late start to this day, it took no time for the sky to start the slow transition from a serene blue to a musky and warm orange, painted with streaks of yellow and read as the sun gradually made its descent. "We'll need to find a haven soon," Gladio spoke absentmindedly as he gazed out overhead, "I doubt this is the kind of place we want to get caught in the dark at."

"Indeed," Ignis agreed, "With all this shrubbery and foliage, it's the perfect ambush environment, especially for those of the daemon category." He urged his chocobo to slow down to more of a leisurely trot, the others swiftly changing their own speeds to match that one.

"Whoa!" the blond cried out with the sudden shift in pace, "A little warning next time."

The brunet spared him a glance, but that was about it, "Keep an eye out, we'll be staying at the next one we come across." He scanned his eyes over the three of them, making sure they all heard his words, "We don't have a lot of daylight left, so we'll have to take the first one available; we can't afford to be getting picky."

They strolled on for perhaps another twenty minutes before they spotted some glowing markings not far away, and luck for them, there wasn't too many plants surrounding it. So, at least they'd be able to catch anything trying to sneak up. As they approached it, the setting up began, Gladio and Prompto setting up the tent while Noctis worked on the fire; and, this of course left the meal preparation to Ignis alone. Not that he minded doing it himself, at least then he wouldn't have to worry about anything messing up, or knew it would be edible.

Their chocobos wandered around nearby, never daring to venture too far, especially given the lack of light around them now; they knew better than to risk leaving the safety of a well-lit area. They spent the majority of their time curiously watching what the others were up to, occasionally rearing their heads right in their way; or Rodo frequently finding something he would rather snatch up or nibble on. And, most of the time it happened to be just the thing that was currently needed by one of the guys. Particularly tent pieces. But, retrieving said things was a bit trickier than they had first thought it to be, and more times than not, it was placed on Prompto's shoulders to do so.

"Ok, easy now, I just need to make a little trade, alright?" he tried to reason, leaves in one hand while the other reached out to grab the stake. "I know you'd much rather have these than a hunk of metal," he shook the greens a little in an attempt to get its attention. And, with a quick snap, Rodo dropped the stake with a 'clang' and nipped almost aggressively at the offered food.

Jumping back at the unexpected movement, the blond took a shuddering breath, "See? Isn't that much better?" he chuckled lightly and stroked a still uncertain hand along the side of its face.

"You can bond later," Gladio called over his shoulder, flipping the hammer in his hand, "Now, bring that thing over so we can finish this thing up.

"R-right," he scooped it up and nearly skipped back over to slap it down in the man's awaiting palm. Opening his mouth to speak, he jolted at the ruffling he felt in his hair and prepared for the sharp pain that was to come, and was genuinely surprised when it never did. "Hmm?" he glanced over his shoulder to find it merely sniffing at him, and nothing more. "Don't get any bright ideas," he mumbled, turning back to help Gladio before he could get scolded again.

The brute's incessant snapping brought him back, "Hold this for me."

"Oh, right, got it," the blond stepped over and held the corner in place while Gladio tied everything in place. With a sigh of satisfaction, the shield stepped back, the other following after as they both gazed over the finished product. "That about does it," he brushed his hands together and glanced over to the prince, "You still got it under control over there?"

Noctis tossed another log onto the badgering flames, the fire wrapping around them almost instantly, "Yeah, not like this is a hard job or anything," he shrugged.

"With you, I figured it would be," he remarked snidely. The raven didn't reply, but he made sure to set him with quite the unimpressed look as he extended his hands to hover over the warmth and turned his attention back to it.

His eyes slowly scanned over to the adviser as the sounds of a spoon dinging the side of a metal pot pulled in his attention; said man dinged a couple more times until all three of the others were facing him, "Come get a bowl before it gets cold," he cocked his head to the dishes he already had filled and sat to the side, waiting for their owners to come claim them. One by one, they stepped forth, each carefully taking a steaming bowl with a small thanks and took their seats.

Prompto scooped up a spoonful and lifted it to blow the heat out of it, and he only got it a few inches from his mouth before he felt a few feathers ruffle against his cheek. "No, no, this is people food," the blond dropped the utensil back in his bowl to try and shove the large head away, but it was too persistent and he found himself leaning away from it. "Look," he pointed off to the right, "Yours is over there, remember? You love that stuff, and it's better for you." As he said this, Rodo turned his head to the side as if listening, but declined the offer and stretched his neck out closer to the bowl, mouth opening slightly.

"Really?" the blond tried to turn his back on it, but it simply circled around. "I knew we should have tied you guys up," he sighed.

"I recall you being the one spewing that they wouldn't like being tied up," Gladio raised an eyebrow, taking a bit of his own meal.

The younger narrowed his eyes, "Nah, I don't think I did," he spoke softly, staring off, knowing very well that he did. "That's not the point." Holding his food high above his head, he carefully stepped over to the greens placed a few feet away, and quickly leaned down to pick one up. "Here, have this," he offered it over. Rodo looked from the leaf to the bowl a few times before it eventually snapped at the greens. "There ya go, not that hard, is it?" he crouched down to point at the pile and tap right next to it in an attempt to drag its curiosity over; it took a moment, but it worked, and it decided that maybe those were the better choice.

"Just like a married couple," Gladio teased, giving the blond a wink as soon as he glanced over.

"More like a stubborn toddler," he corrected, taking his seat back and finally taking his first bite. He cast another look over to make sure the chocobo was still busy with its own dinner and couldn't stop the small grin at the sight of it, "Only cuter and quieter."

"Don't you even think about trying to keep it when we get back," Ignis casually warned, only slightly serious. "We don't have the means to take care of such a...pet."

Prompto waved a dismissive hand, "I don't think I'd look good bald anyway," he jokingly agreed, "So no worries there." He lifted another spoonful before changing the subject, "So, where exactly did they say these tags were?"

The adviser cleared his throat and lowered his bowl and hands into his lap, "Dave isn't specifically sure where; all we have to go on is that it was somewhere in this area. But, he said they were hunting the voretooth in this area, so as soon as we spot those we should have an idea of where to look, seeing as they don't move around too much."

"What?!" the blond nearly spit out what he had in his mouth, "Seriously?"

"Afraid of a few animals?" Noctis asked in a joking manner, despite knowing how fast those things could be.

"I'm not even going to pretend like I'm not," the blond crossed his legs and leaned back, "Not to mention how sneaky they are."

Gladio let out a small snort, "They're about as graceful as dualhorn, I'm pretty sure if one manages to sneak up on you, you'd have to be deaf and blind." He dropped his spoon into his now empty dish and pushed himself up with a grunt, "Thanks, Iggy, I think I'm going to head to bed now." He placed his dish to the side and stretched with a small groan, "And don't worry about cleaning up, I'll wash up in the morning." Giving them all a wave, he disappeared into the tent.

The others finished up their food in relative silence, stacking their cleared dishes on the first in a neat little pile, all ready to be taken care of the ext day. As the others joined the shield in calling it a night, Ignis took a few minutes to tie up their chocobos, not trusting them to stay put once the sun was out again. Satisfied that the knots were tied tight enough, he gave one more glance around to make sure the coast was still clear and head to bed like the rest.

* * *

"Alright, so they're somewhere in this area, and they were hunting voretooth..." Noctis repeated, making sure he still had it right, "And, we have no idea where exactly that is. Tell me, why did we agree to this again?" he cut his eyes over to Ignis, who had his hand to his chin in thought.

Humming to himself, he met the prince's gaze, "Simply because it's the hunt that didn't require us to travel a great distance and it paid well." He spoke as if that should have been obvious, which maybe it should have been, or to him it should have been. "As long as you keep an eye out and don't get too distracted, this should be a fairly easy mission."

"Easy for you to say," Prompto started with a grin, and the brunet already knew where this was going before he even said it, "You have twice the viewing power as we do."

Ignis pushed his glasses up and closed his eyes in annoyance, "Just keep an eye out for the voretooth," he reminded tightly, gripping his reins and lead his mount to continue forth.

"We'd cover more ground if search separately," Gladio subtly suggested, not wanting to spend the whole day hopelessly searching, and immediately caught the skeptical look of Ignis, "In pairs, of course," he quickly corrected to satisfy the man's inner protective nature. And, to his surprise, the other was actually thinking about it.

He bit his lip before coming to a conclusion, "Very well, but try to stay within a mile of each other should anything go wrong." He made sure to set his gaze on Noctis as he said this, "And no reckless behavior; stay close to one another, these things travel in packs and are highly aggressive."

"Yeah, I got it," the prince nodded, "Come on Prom, we got this way," he cocked his head to the left and turned his mount in that direction, "I guess we can meet back here in an hour or so if we don't find anything." Ignis gave his approval on that proposition, and with that being said and agreed on, they went their designated ways. Noctis and Prompto to the left while the other two headed to the right. "You seem to be having an easier time now," he commented, noticing the other's riding was a lot smoother than the previous day.

He shrugged with one shoulder, "What can I say, guess he finally realized I wasn't a snack."

"Seems that way," Noctis turned back ahead, slowing down by a small amount as he eventually picked up on something a bit unusual looking. "What the hell?" he muttered, squinting against the rays of the sun and slowed his ride to a slow trot until he was upon the object. Hopping down, he crouched to inspect the scrap, finding it to be a scrap of material; he couldn't tell from what, but the slight red stain on it didn't bode well. Swallowing thickly, he looked over his shoulder, "Well, I guess we're in the right spot."

"I-I'll message the others," Prompto stammered, pulling out his phone and quickly sent a text to Gladio, "Ok, there we g-" he froze, Noctis seemingly picking up on the same thing, "Did you hear that?" he asked, jerking his head towards the forest, where they could hear more than one snarl coming from.

"Prom, I hope you're ready," Noctis whispered, summoning his blade stepping back until he was standing next to the other. The blond hopped down, drawing his own weapon and aimed it at the shuffling foliage. With realization, he swiftly turned to face the birds and began waving his arms to shoo them away.

"Go on," he urged, "Get somewhere safe, promise we'll be back for you guys," he sighed in relief as they galloped away and out of immediate danger. "Now I'm ready."

Noctis gave the blond one quick and firm nod before stepping closer, his sword held at the ready should anything pounce out. Taking a deep breath, he tossed his blade through to the other side, and all Prompto saw was a flash of blue before the screech of pain that erupted and cut through the silence. The gunner started to go in after him, but growling coming from either side drew his attention elsewhere.

He switched his gun from one target to the other, unsure which he should prioritize, both of them seemed just as eager as the other to attack. Without thinking, he fired a few shots to the one that felt ready to leap at any second, and he collapsed to the side with a small whimper, but Prompto only felt a second of guilt before he heard the cry of the other one as it jumped forward. In his moment of panic and blind fear, he closed his eyes, the creature now far to close for him to shoot. So, he turned his head and prepared for the collision.

But, it never came. Instead, there was the sound of heavy footfalls followed by the yelp as the voretooth was thrust to the side. Carefully and hesitantly, he cracked his eyes open, a small gasp escaping him as his vision had been invaded by yellow. "Rodo?" he whispered, "I told you to get out of here," he blurted out, the words coming out angrier than he meant them too. The bird only turned its head to the side, only recognizing the sound of his voice and not necessarily the tone or the words.

It turned to face him, light chirps sounding out as it did so, "Come on, you can't stay here," he whispered, patting it on the neck and left it to go check on Noctis, stopping as he took the first step. There was another, coming out of the bushes that the raven had disappeared into, and he felt his blood run cold. As he raised his weapon to try and quickly take out that one, Rodo once again intervened, wings flapping frantically as it stepped between the two of them. "Thanks, buddy," Prompto gave his gratitude and swiftly ran around the thick foliage, calling out for the prince as he struggled through it.

"Noct!" he called, stepping over the corpse of one of the pack members, "Where are you?" He kept his head up and his attention forward, so it came as no surprise when his foot caught on something and he fell forward with a harsh, 'thud.' "Sonuva-" he glanced down to see what he tripped over, his breath hitching the moment his eyes locked onto twilight. "Noct..." he uttered, the prince coughing and wincing slightly.

Prompto quickly got to his knees and scooted over, "Wha-," his hands hovered over the other as his eyes scanned over him, and it took no time for them to locate the problem. "Shit," he swore under his breath, fingers glancing over the few spine the stuck out of the raven's right side. Swiftly, he yanked them out one by one, wincing with each gasp the other let out. "Sorry," he muttered as he removed the last one, "I'm done now, the others should be here soon." He brushed some hair out of his face and felt some of the heat that radiated off him.

"Come on, I'll get you out of here," he promised, pulling one of Noctis' arms to drape over his shoulders; the man let out a small his in response. As he hefted him, he heard another noise that felt like a stab in his heart, and it wasn't a snarl or a growl this time. He swallowed thickly at that squealing sound, and he glanced in the direction he knew Rodo to be and then back down to his friend, who was slowly but surely losing consciousness. A few more times, those pained and desperate chirps begged for help...but. Prompto lifted the prince up further and tightened his grasp around him. "Just hang on a little longer, alright fella, I"ll be right back," he whispered.

He didn't look back; he couldn't look back, he already felt guilty enough as it were. But, Noctis was his priority right now, and there was no need to debate which of the two were more important, there wasn't a comparison to be had. That didn't mean it hurt any less, nor did it justify what he was doing. "I'm sorry," he bit out between clenched teeth, his ears barely picked up on the pattering that was behind him. And, he tried to ignore it as he pressed forward, his grip on the other tightening as he ran. Even when he felt the two stabs of pain in his back, he didn't stop.

It couldn't have been long since he'd been running, in fact, he could still discern his chocobo's cries not too far away, but for some reason, it felt as though he had been running for a while. His steps gradually slowed and he was finding breathing to be a lot more difficult and arduous than it should have been. Then it registered, that pain he had felt, "Dammit." The feeling of the venom pumping through him was almost tangible now, obvious and mentally slapped himself for being so careless.

One foot in front of the other though, each step was accompanied by another squawk, every one growing quieter and weaker until eventually they quieted altogether. He didn't think too much on that, couldn't bare to linger on the thought if it... "Where...are you...guys?" he huffed out between labored breaths. His step faltered, and he felt himself fall forward, and with his arms too busy holding Noctis up, he lacked the means to catch himself. He tried to push himself back up, but his arms were already refusing to support his weight; the poison was already draining him of his strength.

Prompto glanced over to the other, not seeing a bit of movement other than his own struggles for breath. As his vision wavered in and out of focus, the only other thing he was aware of was approaching steps, but everything faded precariously before they had reached the two of them. But, the only thing he could think of was, 'This is it.'

* * *

His head was killing him and his throat ached annoyingly with dryness, and a small groan escaped him as he shuffled under...a cover? Prompto's eyes snapped open at the realization and immediately had to squint form the abrupt brightness that it resulted in. "Took you long enough," he recognized Gladio's voice.

"Hmm," he hummed, mostly to test out his voice, "Wh're we?"

"Back at the chocobo ranch," Gladio leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Me and Ignis found the two of you collapsed a few yards from where you said you were. Got the two of you back to the camp and used antidotes as soon as we could."

"Where's Noct?" the blond tried to sit up, but his body still wasn't cooperating well enough yet. Seeing as that wasn't happening at the moment, he glanced around to look for the raven, and he felt a painful sting in his chest when he didn't spot him right away. "Did he...?" his eyes widened as he met amber orbs.

Gladio shook his head, "He's fine. He's not awake yet though. We think he must have had poison running through him sooner than you, and more of it, so he needs a bit more time to come to." He caught the forlorn look on the younger's face, "But don't worry, he'll be alright when he wakes up."

There was something on the shield's face that caused the gunner to press him further, "What else?"

"We called the chocobos when we didn't see them with you two, but...only Noctis' came back," he lowered his gaze, not wanting to see the disappointment in the other's face. "I'm sorry, but, the voretooth got to it."

"I know," he replied quickly with no hesitation. He took a moment to take a deep breath, "I knew it was getting attacked...but, I left him. I had to put Noctis first, and I couldn't risk taking the time to help 'em." At that, the other gazed back up, "I should have done something, but I-I wasn't thinking..."

Gladio cleared his throat, "You did the right thing," he assured. "It's better that you got Noct out of there first, there's no telling what could have happened if you didn't. So, I should be thanking you for that."

"No reason to thank," the blond replied, "I would have done it regardless, and would do it again." He shuddered though as that desperate and agonized screeching still played in the back of his head and he had to bite his lip to keep it together. "But, we might not have gotten out of there if it weren't for Rodo. Wiz was right about him, that's for sure. He was trusty, and he didn't let me down." He closed his eyes to relax a bit more, his heart working up a storm, "Even though I let him down. Wait!" his eyes snapped back open. "Does he know, Wiz, I mean?"

Slowly, the man nodded, "Yeah, we kinda had to break it to him when we returned with only three. He didn't take it very well, but he's glad that most made it back. But, this is something he's come to expect when hunters rent them; he knows the risks."

Prompto nodded once, "Yeah." He sighed through his nose before speaking again, "And the dog tags?" He needed to know, to know that it wasn't all for nothing; that he didn't sacrifice an innocent creature for naught.

With a sad smile, the brute pulled out two chains, both of which held their respective tags. "They were actually pretty close to where you two were; we found them on the way back to camp." He took his own deep breath and pushed himself up with a grunt, "Well, I'll go get Ignis, he wants to check up on the both of you and I promised to tell him the moment you were awake." He glanced over one more time, "Do you need a moment first, or are you good?"

"I'm fine," he replied flatly, "Honestly, I'll be fine." He watched as Gladio turned his back on him and the door closed behind him before he allowed a shuddering breath to come out, and blinked a few times to clear the moisture that threatened him. Swiftly, he swiped at them when he heard the echo of steps and put up a front before the door could open back up.

* * *

 **This was harder than killing Prompto that one time...**


End file.
